GLENDALE, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 05: Head coach Brian Callahan of the Tennessee Titans looks on during the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on October 05, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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The Tennessee Titans have struggled through the first six weeks of the 2025 season. Their 1-5 record is tied for worst in the NFL, and now the franchise will move forward the rest of the season with a new head coach.
The Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan on Monday afternoon. Callahan, who was in his second season as Titans’ head coach, went just 4-19.
Team Statement
Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker called Callahan a person of “great character” but also explained the reality and rationale of why the decision to fire Callahan was made.
“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth,” Brinker said in a statement. “Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”
Titans’ Offensive Struggles And The Growing Pains Of Cam Ward
The Titans went 3-14 last season and had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Tennessee selected Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward with the top pick and there was optimism ahead of the season that the Titans’ offense would be improved. However, Ward and the entire offense have struggled this year.
Tennessee ranks last in total offense at No. 32, averaging just 232.3 yards per game. And Ward ranks No. 33 in Total QBR at 25.0. Ward has only thrown three touchdown passes in six games and has four interceptions. After the Titans’ 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Callahan was critical of Ward and the entire offensive operation.
“I am incredibly discouraged by the outcome,” Callahan said. “We felt good coming into the game. To not be able to perform well on offense and not be able to score any points and then lose the game is disappointing. And we all gotta be better, Cam’s a part of that too, Cam’s gotta play better football as well. We gotta coach better, we gotta play better, all those things. It’s not all just him, but he is a part of it and we’d like to be able to start seeing some more good football being played and we got to do a better job.”
Callahan was hired by the Titans because of his offensive prowess during a successful stint from 2019-23 as the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator. Not only was Callahan not able to replicate the success he had with the Bengals, the Titans’ offense has been anemic.
A Poor Week Of Practice For The Titans
The writing was on the wall for Callahan to get fired with Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons shedding some light about a poor week of preparation last week.
“This probably was one of our worst weeks of practice,” Simmons said on Sunday. “Came out flat Thursday. Things like that in that nature sometimes carry over. When you get in this league, you have to prove it every week and reprove it. You gotta go out there and keep proving yourself, your team that you can win in this league. We didn’t do that in all three phases. Today was bad football. We didn’t do good today at all.”
What’s Next For Callahan And The Titans
Callahan is fired ahead of a matchup against the New England Patriots. The Patriots are 4-2 under head coach Mike Vrabel, who was fired as head coach of the Titans in January of 2024 and replaced by Callahan.
Callahan is just 41 years old and has plenty of time in his career to bounce back from his unsuccessful tenure in Tennessee. Whether the Titans turn things around quickly with Callahan out of the picture remains to be seen, but things can’t get much worse than they already have been.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevorwoods/2025/10/13/tennessee-titans-fire-head-coach-brian-callahan-after-1-5-start/
